Electronic commerce, colloquially known as e-commerce or e-business, includes the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. While a significant percentage of the growth in e-commerce in recent years has involved virtual goods and services, most electronic commerce still involves fulfillment of an order through the transportation of physical items in some way. In the majority of e-commerce transactions, the purchase transaction is ordered or agreed electronically and interactively in real-time and subsequently completed with the delivery of a physical package containing goods.
The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown rapidly with widespread Internet usage and has further increased with the proliferation of mobile computing devices capable of accessing the Internet. Such mobile computing devices include laptop computers, tablet computers, and handheld telephones. Expansion of the capabilities of such mobile devices has increased opportunities for the user of a mobile device to participate in electronic commerce.
While the technology described herein is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.